New city substation could begin 2026 construction pending AUC approval

Posted on October 10, 2024 by Ryan Dahlman

By Collin Gallant
Southern Alberta Newspapers
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Medicine Hat’s electric distribution department is preparing another application to build a substation in the south end where officials say a lack of power and reliability is holding back development in the area.

Last year, regulators denied a city proposal to site the $22-million substation near Highway 3 at the city limits when residents of a Cypress County residential subdivision objected and the Alberta Utilities Commission said the city hadn’t made its case on growth in demand.

Similar arguments defeated an alternate location near an intersection of South Boundary Road that leads to the county hamlet of Desert Blume.

Now, city power officials will discuss new and alternate locations with affected parties at an open house on Oct. 15 and 16 at the Desert Blume Golf Course ahead of a new application to the AUC.

“It’s part of our public participation requirements, and once it is completed, we’ll likely be filing our documents (for application) later this fall,” said Grayson Mauch, the director of utility distribution for the city.

The new preferred location sits north of Gershaw Drive on Range Road 63, one-half mile north of Township Road 122.

An alternate location is one-half mile to the east on the neighbouring quarter-section.

Both are on a line that brings power to the growing south end, where the city says demand is reaching the physical limits or the system. As well, during disruptions in other parts of the city’s grid, power is rerouted around line breaks to restore or continue power delivery, but that’s limited in the southwest.

That was outlined on construction queue for grid reinforcement years ago, the southwest station, known as MHS-11, was approved in 2022 with a $24 million budget.

However, the AUC ruled that the city had enough time to redo site selection seeking lower impacts on residential areas when it heard arguments in the spring of 2023.

City power officials argued at the time that, as the operator in the franchise area, it has the ability to determine its own needs, rather than the AUC, but will include an economic growth case in a new application this time, said Mauch.”Their primary concern was the site (selection) criteria,” he told Southern Alberta Newspapers. “It’s good practice, so we’ll forward the information regarding the need.”

“That’s based on peak demand and with the additional capacity of the substation, it enables economic development. Hence, we need that substation.”

Mauch said the city continues to work with developers on power delivery.

“We continue to work with developers, but that’s something that we’ve flagged to developers about the power constraints in the south,” he said.

If approved this fall by the Alberta Utilities Commission, construction could begin and be complete in 2026.

The facility is meant to better direct power to the south end of the city via lines that run south from the river valley power plant then along South Boundary Road.